On the other hand, any fool can cut down a tree. Which is what's happening at the site of a perfectly good house that's being torn down (and about which I blogged previously).
This one was perfectly healthy, as far as I could tell.
Sadly, the world's inventory of trees is declining with rapid deforestation in many areas, in North American and South America, as well as Asia and Africa. So every good tree is worth keeping. That's especially true in the urban forest, where trees help to cool the city, and its homes, through their shading.
To make up for the loss of trees elsewhere, we've been doing our bit by growing trees on our micro-holding.
We have a big pine in the front. We have transplanted it from several homes to others, but now it's reached the size that a we won't be transplanting it again.
We've got several spruces at the front as well. Along the side, two more spruces. At the back of the house two more. Scattered through the yard another eight spruces. Four of them surround the Celtic meditative garden I've been trying to build.
Plus this mountain ash (in front of which you can see one of our back yard spruces).
Hiding behind the mountain ash, an apple tree. The apples are not particularly good for eating (by our tastes), but they're great for baking.
At the other corner of the house, a big maple
Plus two Manchurian Elms — which are really "weed trees." They grow all over, spread thousands of seeds (which invariable seem to grow wherever they land), and you can't trim them from April through September, for fear of spreading "Dutch Elm Disease." I would really like to take those two out, but not until good "replacements" have grown to sufficient height.
You can see the little spruce in front of the larger elm.
I just wish we had more trees.
P.S.: No report on our trees would be complete without a mention of "The Mistress of the Trees."
